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Run 169 – The Connecticut Challenge

Run a road race in every single town in CT and you will be crowned as a King or Queen of the “Run 169 Towns Society.” Needless to say, this is quite an accomplishment. The organization started in 2012 by a group of like-minded, dedicated runners. At the inaugural meeting, Karen Rogers and Bob Davis were crowned as the first King and Queen to complete the challenge (Karen in Nov. 2011 and Bob in Feb. 2012). On April 14, Katey Baruth finished a race in Avon, CT, becoming the 10th woman to run in all 169 towns. To date, just 26 individuals have achieved the goal! 2692 people are currently registered members of the group, so plenty of folks are running their way to completion.

We discovered all of this because Katey’s partner came in to buy cowbells to celebrate and cheer at the last event. In fact, our bells tend to show up at a lot of racing events, but this is our first official 169 bell!

Katey’s 169 Bevin Bell

Katey and her partner, Rick Shoup, often run two races every weekend! She began her 169 Towns journey in the Spring of 2016 in Prospect, CT and Katey finished on April 14, 2018. So, needless to say, accomplishing this in just 2 years takes dedication and lots of time. Katey and Rick often run with their Labrador Quinn and Bulldog Piper. In fact, in Katey’s finishing photo below, you can see Quinn crossing the line with her. You can also see a great crowd there to celebrate the victory.

Speaking of celebrating, Rick says the post-event pizza party was quite a loud affair with everyone ringing their Bevin Bells inside the pizza parlor – aren’t you glad you weren’t the other patrons there?!

Congratulations to Katey and the other 25 finishers of this challenge. Good luck to the remaining 2667 people looking to be crowned. You can be sure that those of us at Bevin Bells will be cheering you all on!